Dozens of Republic of China (ROC) “nationals without citizenship” from the Philippines gathered in front of the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday to protest their exclusion from the National Health Insurance program.
There are currently about 2,000 ROC nationals without citizenship living in Taiwan. Most were born in the Philippines and hold ROC passports because their parents are ethnic Chinese.
However, they are denied legal residence status because the government does not view them as “Taiwanese” and therefore they do not have national ID cards, which makes them ineligible to participate in the national health program.
Elizabeth Ong Cheng, a member of a group that provides care and support for overseas Taiwanese who have returned from the Philippines, said the group has more than 500 members who all hold ROC passports, but are excluded from the health plan because they lack national ID cards.
Many of them have lived in Taiwan for more than 10 years, but have to leave the country for at least one day every six months to renew their visas, said Lorna Kung (龔尤倩), executive director of the Scalabrini International Migration Network in Taiwan and a consultant to the Taiwan International Workers Association.
These people are not the same as dual nationals who try to take advantage of the insurance system by not paying any premiums until they return to the country for medical treatment, she said.
Many ROC nationals without citizenship have lived here for many years, she said.
“They can legally work in Taiwan and have contributed to our society, but are excluded from the national health insurance system. Our social welfare system should not allow them to be treated like this,” she said.
Chu Tong-kuang (曲同光), deputy convener of health department task force on insurance premiums, said that the National Health Insurance Act (全民健康保險法) does not allow for loosening restrictions to include non-residents in the national health program.
However, the department would investigate the issue, Chu said.
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS